ALBANY, N.Y. (June 7, 2005) -- Exposure to
environmental pollutants may contribute to
the development of coronary heart disease and
heart attacks, says a report this month from
the University at Albany's Institute for the
Health and the Environment.

The report, "Hospitalization Rates for
Coronary Heart Disease in Relation to Residence
Near Areas Contaminated with Persistent Organic
Pollutants and Other Pollutants," published
in the June 2005 issue of Environmental
Health Perspectives, was authored by Alexander V.
Sergeev, a graduate student at the School of
Public Health during the study and currently
with the Smolensk State Medical Academy in
Russia, and professor of environmental health
and toxicology David O. Carpenter, director
of the Institute. The researchers examined
hospital discharge rates from 900 hazardous
waste sites identified by ZIP code and compared
them with hospitalization rates from "clean" ZIP
codes, or areas not containing identified hazardous
waste sites, and found that residents living
in areas containing or abutting sites contaminated
with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such
as PCBS and dioxins had a 15 percent elevation
in coronary heart disease and 20 percent elevation
in acute myocardial infarction.

In order to mitigate other factors that contribute
to heart disease, the researchers investigated
a focused group of contaminated sites by studying
hospital discharges along a 200-mile stretch
of the Hudson River, from Hudson Falls to Manhattan,
where average income is higher and residents
smoke less, have a better diet, and get more
exercise. This group yielded a rate of hospitalization
for coronary heart disease that was nearly
36 percent greater than in clean sites, and
39 percent greater for myocardial infarction
than in clean sites.

In all, the scientists studied hospitalization
statistics for 418 New York State ZIP codes
with an average population of 1,798,249 over
the period 1993-2000, containing or abutting
a POP-contaminated site, compared to 996 "clean" ZIP
code sites, hosting a population of 3,199,867.
The sites were identified by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York Department
of Environmental Conservation (DEC), as well
as the International Joint Commission (IJC),
a U.S.-Canadian body that advises the two governments
on issues relating to boundary waters.

The authors conclude that although the cross-sectional
design of the study prevents definitive conclusions
on causal inference, the results indirectly
support the hypothesis that living near hazardous
waste contaminated sites constitutes a risk
of exposure and of eventual development of
coronary heart disease and acute myocardial
infarction. The materials that comprise the
hazardous site cause the liver to produce more
lipids (hydrophobic molecules such as fats
and oils), which the authors believe forms
the basis of the relationship between contaminants
and heart disease.

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